[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 131 (Friday, July 9, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39614-39615]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-16751]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
Approval of Noise Compatibility Program for Modesto City-County
Airport, Modesto, CA
AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announces its
findings on the noise compatibility program submitted by the City of
Modesto under the provisions of Title I of the Aviation Safety and
Noise Abatement Act, as amended, (Pub. L. 96-193) (hereinafter referred
to as ``the Act'') and 14 CFR Part 150. These findings are made in
recognition of the description of Federal and nonfederal
responsibilities in Senate Report No. 96-52 (1980). On January 9, 2009,
the FAA determined that the noise exposure maps submitted by the City
of Modesto under Part 150 were in compliance with applicable
requirements.
DATES: Effective Date: The effective date of the FAA's approval of the
Noise Compatibility Program for Modesto City-County Airport is June 2,
2010.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Camille Garibaldi, Environmental
Protection Specialist, FAA Western-Pacific Region, San Francisco
Airports District Office, 831 Mitten Road, Suite 210, Burlingame,
California, telephone number (650) 876-2778 extension 613. Documents
reflecting this FAA action may be reviewed at this same location.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice announces that the FAA has given
its overall approval to the Noise Compatibility Program for Modesto
City-County Airport, effective June 2, 2010. Under section 104(a) of
the Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act of 1979, as amended (herein
after referred to as the ``Act'') [recodified as 49 U.S.C. 47504], an
airport operator who has previously submitted a Noise Exposure Map may
submit to the FAA a Noise Compatibility Program which sets forth the
measures taken or proposed by the airport operator for the reduction of
existing non-compatible land uses and prevention of additional non-
compatible land uses within the area covered by the Noise Exposure
[[Page 39615]]
Maps. The Act requires such programs to be developed in consultation
with interested and affected parties including local communities,
government agencies, airport users, and FAA personnel.
Each airport noise compatibility program developed in accordance
with Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) Part 150 is a local program,
not a Federal program. The FAA does not substitute its judgment for
that of the airport proprietor with respect to which measures should be
recommended for action. The FAA's approval or disapproval of FAR Part
150 program recommendations is measured according to the standards
expressed in Part 150 and the Act, and is limited to the following
determinations:
a. The Noise Compatibility Program was developed in accordance with
the provisions and procedures of FAR Part 150;
b. Program measures are reasonably consistent with achieving the
goals of reducing existing non-compatible land uses around the airport
and preventing the introduction of additional non-compatible land uses;
c. Program measures would not create an undue burden on interstate
or foreign commerce, unjustly discriminate against types or classes of
aeronautical uses, violate the terms of airport grant agreements, or
intrude into areas preempted by the Federal Government; and
d. Program measures relating to the use of flight procedures can be
implemented within the period covered by the program without derogating
safety, adversely affecting the efficient use and management of the
navigable airspace and air traffic control systems, or adversely
affecting other powers and responsibilities of the Administrator
prescribed by law.
Specific limitations with respect to FAA's approval of an airport
noise compatibility program are delineated in FAR Part 150, section
150.5. Approval is not a determination concerning the acceptability of
land uses under Federal, State, or local law. Approval does not by
itself constitute an FAA implementing action. A request for Federal
action or approval to implement specific noise compatibility measures
may be required, and an FAA decision on the request may require an
environmental assessment of the proposed action. Approval does not
constitute a commitment by the FAA to financially assist in the
implementation of the program nor a determination that all measures
covered by the program are eligible for grant-in-aid funding from the
FAA under the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982, as amended.
Where Federal funding is sought, requests for project grants must be
submitted to the FAA Western-Pacific Region, San Francisco Airports
District Office in Burlingame, California.
The City of Modesto submitted to the FAA on October 2, 2008, the
Noise Exposure Maps for evaluation. The FAA determined that the Noise
Exposure Maps were in compliance with applicable requirements on
January 9, 2009. Notice of this determination was published in the
Federal Register on January 26, 2009.
The Modesto City-County Airport study contains a proposed noise
compatibility program comprised of actions designed for phased
implementation by airport management and adjacent jurisdictions. It was
requested that the FAA evaluate and approve this material as a Noise
Compatibility Program as described in 49 U.S.C. 47504 (formerly Section
104(b) of the Act). The FAA began its review of the program on December
9, 2009 and was required by a provision of the Act to approve or
disapprove the program within 180 days (other than the use of new or
modified flight procedures for noise control). Failure to approve or
disapprove such program within the 180-day period shall be deemed to be
an approval of such program.
The Noise Compatibility Program recommended two noise abatement
elements, four land use management elements and one program management
element. The FAA completed its review and determined that the
procedural and substantive requirements of the Act and FAR Part 150
have been satisfied. The overall program was approved, by the Manager
of the Airports Division, Western-Pacific Region, effective June 2,
2010.
Approval was granted for one Noise Abatement Element, four Land Use
Management Elements and one Program Management Element. The approved
measures included: Designate a commercial service hold area near
midfield; Adopt the Modesto City-County Airport Part 150 Noise
Compatibility Program by reference in the cities of Modesto and Ceres,
and Stanislaus County General Plans; Consistently designate the area
northwest of the airport within the City of Modesto and Stanislaus
County General Plan; The City of Modesto should consider adopting an
airport compatibility checklist for discretionary review of projects
within its vicinity; Adopt a Noise Overlay Zone; and Update Noise
Exposure Maps and Noise Compatibility Program.
The Noise Abatement Element--Pursue a change to the Department of
Defense's Instrument Flight Rule Supplement was disapproved for
purposes of Part 150. The FAA disapproved the element due to lack of
supporting analysis in the Noise Compatibility Plan. However, the
disapproval does not prohibit the City of Modesto from working with the
Department of Defense to revise the recommended operational hours in
the Instrument Flight Rule Supplement on a voluntary basis.
The FAA determinations are set forth in detail in the Record of
Approval signed by the Manager of the Airports Division, Western-
Pacific Region, on June 2, 2010. The Record of Approval, as well as
other evaluation materials and the documents comprising the submittal,
are available for review at the FAA office listed above and at the
administrative offices of the Modesto City-County Airport. The Record
of Approval also will be available on-line at: http://www.faa.gov/airports/environmental/airport_noise/part_150/states/.
Issued in Hawthorne, California, on June 18, 2010.
Brian Q. Armstrong,
Acting Manager, Airports Division, Western-Pacific Region, AWP-600.
[FR Doc. 2010-16751 Filed 7-8-10; 8:45 am]
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